"R&D activities" refer to creative and systematic work undertaken so as to increase the stock of knowledge for devising new and improved products/processes/ applications and improve existing products/processes/ applications.

(2)

Reference periods of the R&D statistics presented for different sectors are not the same. For the higher education sector, the R&D expenditure refers to the amount spent on R&D activities between July of a year and June of the following year. As for the business and the government sectors, the reference period for R&D expenditure is basically a calendar year.

(3)

The GDP estimates are based on expenditure-based GDP estimates at current prices released in November 2017.

(4)

Figures of components may not add up to the respective totals owing to rounding.